Top Chef Season 20

That makes sense; thank you! Do you know why they would get just one representative? And the UK has none! Must have to do with who wants to fund and air the competitions.

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New York Times-ā€œInside the ā€˜Top Chefā€™ Industrial Complexā€

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I havenā€™t watched it yet. And the first few episodes are always hectic until they thin down the competition so you can really see who is making what. Sounds like fun though.

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On Padma: chefs definitely try to cook to please both her appreciation of heat, and the other judges aversion to high Scovil units. A difficult balancing act.

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No idea. Perhaps there are not many that speak English?
And in the UK, not that many that speak American?

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Do you mean one representative of the Top Chef MENA franchise? It might have to do with availability, numbers of seasons, and those who speak English (which is clearly a demand for all participants).

I havenā€™t read the pieces you posted, but I donā€™t see MENA grouping as unusual. It makes sense for nations that can be very small and donā€™t necessarily want to pay that much to purchase a format. Egypt would be the outlier since it has such a major and robust media industry. But shared language communities and cultural similarities make co-productions/ joint productions of this kind typical and practical. (Thereā€™s similar things that can happen in Europe-- Because of ā€¦ oof, you know what? Before I tell you all about Belgian television, Iā€™ll stop myself because you probably didnā€™t come here for a boring lecture on regional transnationalism from someone who should have better sense.)

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To my knowledge there is no Top Chef UK so a representative would be tricky to procure unless a British chef excelled on another one of the franchise.

I think the UK will get the advertising it wants in its food and in the guest chefs. I mean, having Angela Hartnett meant they werenā€™t playing.

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I know! It was strange! I think I like this season so far, but I still much prefer the shows with the less seasoned chefs. I mean, one chef here has a Michelin star.

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She has worn them before. Several times I think, but this is the only photo I could find. I find her fashions choices strange. Remember the dresses with the thickly padded shoulders?

gail

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Iā€™ve been noticing a recent trend of 80ā€™s styles returning. Ugh.

Always slightly bugs me how the women have to get all glammed up and Tom looks like he was running errands before he popped in. Such is life I guessā€¦

Iā€™ve been watching the new season of Great British Menu on Daily Motion and have watched many other seasons and grown to really like Angela Hartnett. Was fun when she was one of the first judges. Lots of great food and restaurants in London so hopefully we will see lots of good British chefs.

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Is that in the US? I canā€™t seem to find seasons after season eight streaming anywhere here.

I watched the first seasons on Amazon and then when that ended I discovered I could watch on Daily Motion, Iā€™m in the US. Itā€™s a video hosting website and legal to use.

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:neutral_face: Last chance kitchen starting.

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Welp, as I thought, Dawn washed out.
And Last Chance Kitchen is avalable now at the Bravo website.

No UK contestant but four from North America. Sigh.

I love Angela Hartnett (and Great British Menu).

It turns there are two MENA chefs!

I agree it does seem that a greater effort should have been made to get at least one UK contestant (chesfteststant seems soā€¦).
OTOH, North America has 7 times as many people as the UK, and the advertising $ are here.

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I thought about this, but I think the people watching this probably enjoy the diversity of people, techniques and flavors. Those who want American-centric shows would want America versus The Rest of the World. Whatever, Iā€™m predicting at least one American in the finale, given how the odds are stacked.

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Finally watched the first two episodes this morning . . . I think Iā€™m going to enjoy this season. I loved the guest judge (and the other chefs dining) in the first episode. And I too was surprised there are no UK contestants.

I always find the first few episodes difficult to follow just because there are so many contestants\dishes. So no favorites yet. But the MENA chefs seem very strong and I like May(?). Not surprised at the two eliminated and I donā€™t expect the Mexican chef to go farā€“he seems like a hot mess.

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